Prof. Parara Spoke at the 27th Modern Greek Studies Association Symposium in Canada

Prof. Polyvia Parara deliverd a paper on Liberalism versus Democracy in the work of Koraes and Contaxaki.

Prof. Polyvia Parara delivered a paper at the 27th Biennial International Modern Greek Studies Association Symposium, which took place at York University, Canada, last November 2-5, 2022.

The work she presented, entitled "Liberalism versus Democracy in Koraes' Prolegomena on Lycurgus' "Kata Leokratous" and Contaxaki's Classical Boquet." compares Koraes' Prolegomena (Paris, 1826) to the unique and recently published volume entitled Classical Bouquet (1855). The paper examines the reception of Athenian democracy and the eclectic appropriation of its values by the intellectuals of the time. Prof. Parara presented new epistemological approaches that suggest repositioning the historical narrative about the Greek world to view Hellenism as a "cosmosystem" that extends from antiquity to the Greek world of Independence. This perspective, which underpins her presentation, changes the framework of understanding the continuity of Greek history and seeks to redefine democracy and freedom.